by E. M. Moore
I rolled my eyes. "You know I don't get it though. I know Eddie."
Jake cast me a sidelong glance.
"Not like that. But I know him enough to know that he wouldn't fuck with me unless I provoked him. Do you think the energy is turning good magic into bad magic?"
"I've never heard of it before, but you know the deal. Magic is constantly evolving, constantly changing. It isn't like the laws of physics. In magic, there are no laws. There are loose guidelines."
"I think that was rule number one in the SPAWN handbook."
Jake chuckled, suddenly sending me back fifteen years. "No, I think that was a Damen original."
"He is quite poetic, isn't he?"
My gaze wandered to the portrait of Damen and I on the mantle in the living room. It was probably the last sibling portrait we ever took. I was five or six, he was eleven. It was taken right before he was inducted into SPAWN. Right before Grandpa spilled the beans.
Jake followed my gaze and smiled. And then, as if he read my mind, "You know I walk by Grandpa Marston's picture almost every day. It hangs in Command Central for the longest service as a Ley Line Guardian."
"It was Dad's fault. He was supposed to take it over from him."
His smirk faded. "This life isn't for everyone. I think your Grandpa understood that. By the time it came to our generation, we were kind of stuck. Your Grandfather was too old to fight, mine was already gone, and we had real trouble on our hands."
"If you could've chosen though, would you still have chose this?"
"One hundred percent."
"I wonder about Damen. He's so good at this but he's also good at everything. He could have been anything."
Jake looked into his mug of cocoa. "I think Damen's exactly where he should be."
Chapter Seven
I always loved walking into the library first thing in the morning. The quiet calm and soothing, like a breath of fresh air. Then the lights flicker on, illuminating all the books. All those words sitting unread just begging to be absorbed. It's always felt like a place on the edge of opportunity.
This morning though, my solitude was interrupted by the presence of Jake. And he was a presence...of something. I wasn't quite sure of what yet. The way he walked around the place as if it were a museum made me laugh. "What? Is this the longest you've ever been in a library?"
"Ha. Ha."
"I can't say I remember Damen ever calling you up and saying, 'Hey, let's go read some books.'"
He chuckled. "No. That wasn't our thing, was it? But you're wrong, I have actually been in a library for longer than oh, the thirty seconds I've been in yours."
I cocked an eyebrow at him.
He leaned against the reference desk and smiled, his eyes affixed on the librarian nameplate on my desk. "When I was studying to be an Elite. You would think that being broken in by Salem would help--and it did--but not as much as you might think. The Elite test is killer."
Despite where my thoughts led me to this morning, I liked having a foot in both the human and the magical world. It gave me some resemblance of a normal life. Looking at Jake, who whirled around when a group of kids came in for story time, I wasn't so sure he could say the same.
Since he got here, he seemed on edge all the time. He practically launched himself out of the car yesterday when we saw that fae running wild. I barely even registered the supernatural aspect and he was already chasing the guy down. Reflexes like that meant you were aware twenty-four seven. Suddenly, I was grateful that the Salem ley line was usually quiet. As much as I liked to let some steam off by hunting down some rabid paranormals, I didn't think I'd want to live, eat, and breathe it.
Maryanne Coventry, a forty-something housewife and a library regular, walked by and almost ran into the new book display when she couldn't tear her eyes off Jake. I nodded toward a chair in the corner. "Sit down. You're making people crazy."
He pointed at his chest as if to ask, Who? Me?
I nodded and then gestured toward Mrs. Coventry who stared at him over the DVD racks. He did as I told, but put a little too much swagger in his step than I thought was warranted for a glance by a woman known to take out knitting magazines. She probably just melted right there where she stood. I'd have to get Earl, the early morning housekeeper, to come in and clean the place up.
"On second thought, why don't you look around? In the back. Preferably behind some stacks where no one can see you."
"What?" he whispered loudly.
"You look out of place. Go...do something."
He shook his head all the way to the stairs where as far as I could see, he did follow my advice and go to the back. Now I'd have to keep an eye on Mrs. Coventry to make sure she didn't follow after and try to join the "Ask Einstein Club", the equivalent of the Mile High Club for libraries.
I whirled after someone tapped me hard on the shoulder. I jumped at how close the fae from the other day stood next to me. "What are you doing here?"
Ignoring me, he pointed toward the stairs. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"What?"
"Elitey-poo who just stalked to the back like you kicked his kitty. Is he your boyfriend?"
My god. What is happening? Could this world be going any more topsy-turvy?
Why I actually answered his question, I didn't know. "No. He's not."
A singsong voice called out behind me. "Oh, Cassandra." Mrs. Coventry walked toward me, turning toward the back of the library every few seconds. "Who is that handsome man?"
I shrugged. "An old childhood friend."
The fae made a noise of disgust and I shot him a glare.
Mrs. Coventry smiled. "I'd be acting funny too if I had a guy like that who was just a friend."
I peered over my shoulder at the fae. He chuckled to himself. "Yep. I'm invisible to all the humans. I mean, think about it, if I showed myself this woman wouldn't be able to stop from salivating. I think she still has a little something on her lips from your 'friend'. If I showed up, she'd probably be a puddle on the floor."
And damned if he didn't actually use air quotes when he said friend. It was amazing how some magical beings acted more human than magical. Well, besides the fact that he was actually invisible right now.
I bit my lip and turned toward Mrs. Coventry. If she wasn't a new resident of Salem, I would've told her who Jake actually was, but there's no way she would know the name. "We go way back. It's nice to have him here."
The woman gave me a lopsided smile. "I bet."
When Mrs. Coventry walked away, the fae clawed the air in front of him. "I thought she was going to go all lioness on you."
Half listening to him, I said, "No, she's human."
He waved his hand in front of my face. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. I'm talking about her claws, as in she'd probably claw your face off trying to get him before you."
"Why do you care about this? Why are we even talking?"
The fae's humor died on his face along with his smile. "I'm here on fae business."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Great. Good for you. Can we maybe conduct fae business when I am not at my own business looking like I'm talking to myself?"
"This is the only place Damen told me I could port to you at. If you'd like to tell me where you live..."
"Oh hell no. Here's fine. Come into my office with me."
I put out the Be Right Back sign and walked toward the corner of the room where the Library Office was. I barely used it. I was usually at the information desk or in the stacks. We couldn't afford the luxury of having more than one librarian at the front desk on a shift so I usually didn't get much time in there.
Kicking the door closed behind us, a hand intercepted it. "Where are you--?" Jake jumped in front of me and spun on the fae. "Your purpose, faerie?" he growled.
The fae rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Does that usually work for you?"
"Sometimes, but I know what will definitely work." Jake cocked his wrist. An iron swing blade slid from a cuff on his wrist just li
ke he showed me earlier. It was pretty badass.
The fae's gaze narrowed in on it. "I mean her no harm."
I nudged Jake aside. "This is the fae who gave me the message from Damen yesterday. Now he says he's here on official fae business."
The fae nodded in my direction as if he approved of my message. "My clan leader sent me. He told me he heard from the Salem Clan that one of their fae was taken out yesterday by a blade that sounded suspiciously like the one you cut me with yesterday."
This, he addressed at me. In truth, he was right. I had cut him and killed the other fae. "Extreme times call for extreme measures. Know that I didn't do it lightly and that there was cause for it."
"Cause being?"
Jake's body clenched for a fight. "I'm not in the habit of being spoken to in this manner by a fae."
The fae's emerald green eyes danced. He was loving every second of this. "I guess it's a good thing that I wasn't talking to you then was it?"
Jake stepped forward, but I grabbed his shoulder. "Calm down. I can handle myself." I turned toward the smirking fae. "Listen, I know Eddie. I know he wasn't himself. We were just going to trap him until we could get help, but then he tried to shoot me with a blow gun and well, that just kind of left me with a bad taste in my mouth."
The fae eyed me skeptically. "What do you mean wasn't acting himself?"
I cast a wary glance toward Jake. I wasn't sure how much I should reveal to the fae, but really, he'd probably noticed the change in energy around Salem too. It wasn't as if it was a secret when all magical beings pulled their power from energy.
"Be calm for one second. Can you feel something different in the air?"
He looked at me quizzically, but then closed his eyes for a few moments. "Nothing too out of the ordinary. I suppose there's a little more electricity to the air."
"Maybe a little more electricity to the air than what you're used to, but this is Salem, and we've been operating with a sleepy ley line for years. This amount of energy is abnormal."
"You think the ley line made Eddie act...funny?"
I nodded. "Have you ever heard of anything like that happening?"
Jake cursed under his breath and then walked away to the other side of my desk. I was pretty sure I picked up the word insane among the others muttered. I didn't care what he thought though. Who else to ask other than someone who was actually supernatural to see if they've ever heard of anything like it?
The fae tapped his chin. "Not that I can recall. I could ask around..."
This time, Jake all out laughed. "You're telling me you're going to help us find out what's wrong with the ley line?"
"One, there is no us. I'm helping her, Miss Bad Ass Pink Streaks. Two, it's obvious you're not doing anything about it. All you're doing is sitting in the back looking at comics." The fae turned toward me. "Oh yeah. That's what the Elite was doing in the back. I spied on him."
"Why would you help me?" I asked.
He shrugged nonchalantly and tugged at my hair. "I like your spunk."
"Good enough for me. Can you um...can you tell me anything about Damen?"
With another scowl toward Jake, he asked, "The Elite's haven't tracked him down yet?"
Jake's face turned redder than werewolf's blood.
"Please...whatever your name is. What is your name anyway?" I asked.
"Oh no. I'm not telling you my name. Absolutely not. We are definitely not there in our relationship."
I had to laugh at that. When you knew a fae's name, you could call on them whenever you wanted. That meant even when they were doing something extremely important, didn't matter. If I called him, he'd have to come. They didn't give their names out freely. "Fine. Green eyes. That's what I'm going to call you. So, Green Eyes, what can you tell me about my brother?"
"I honestly don't know. If I knew something I would tell you."
Jake shook his head. It was obvious he didn't trust him, and I really shouldn't either. For some reason I couldn't explain, though, I did.
Chapter Eight
After my morning shift at the library, Jake and I suited up for some rounds around the wharf. Seeing as how Salem was a port city, we got some interesting magical creatures that came from the Atlantic. Selkies. Mer-men with the pointiest piranha teeth I'd ever seen in my life. Even sirens with their wicked, tantalizing call.
There was nothing better to do than pass the time with a hunt for magical beings acting crazy. This time, we'd subdue the creature before it got out of hand. Hopefully, Green Eyes would come back to give us information we didn't have.
"Oh my god. I don't know why I didn't think of it before." I hit Jake in the arm as we walked down the wharf. "Maybe there's something in the old books about the ley line's energy making the supernatural creatures go ape shit."
Jake looked out at the waves and shook his head. "Damen and I have been through those books a gazillion times. I don't remember anything about the ley line making the monsters go crazy, just that it gave them more powers. Maybe you don't know Eddie like you think you do."
Maybe I didn't know Eddie like I thought I did. Because there was no Eddie anymore. He went poof.
"There's something weird happening. It's more than just the ley line. I haven't seen any new creatures, creatures that are beckoned by the influx of power and energy. It's just that the creatures we already had are going nuts."
Jake seemed to mull that over, but I could still tell he wasn't one-hundred percent on board with my revelation.
"Listen, I know you think I'm going nuts, too. I know you've seen a lot more things to make you think the worst of all these beings, but the ones we have in Salem right now are pretty cool. We don't get disturbances. If we do, it's from someone on the outside and then Damen or I dispatch them. But this was our own run-of-the-mill Salem magical beings. We've all been living alongside each other nicely for a long time. I just don't get it."
"Granted you know more about Salem than I do now, but it just seems like a case of an awakening ley line to me."
"Well, we'll have to wait until Sunday for the witches to see if they can repair it. In the meantime, I'll be interested to hear what Green Eyes has to say."
"If he comes back at all."
I shrugged. "Got a point there. Not saying he will be back, but if he does, I'll be interested in what he has to say. Can't blame me for that, right? I want to get to the bottom of this."
"You and me both, kid."
I sneered at him. "No. Just no. We're not doing the kid thing. That may have worked when I actually was a kid, but trust me, I am no longer a kid."
"I noticed."
I whipped toward him. He wouldn't look at me. The tips of his ears were red again. Well, what I could see of them in the darkening evening anyway. I doubted it was the pink blush that now spread out across the sky above the Atlantic.
I think maybe that was a compliment? Did I want it to be a compliment?
Ugh god. This is why I never bothered with things like boys since I was in high school. Too much damn work.
"I just wish we could do something about it now. I hate waiting. I feel like the longer we wait, the more Damen is lost to us and the more we won't be able to figure out the stupid ley line stuff. I just can't believe this is all happening at once. I'm antsy. I want to figure it out now. I don't want to wait for the stupid full moon."
"Did you talk to Gigi? Maybe if she feels that the ley line's powers have increased, we'll be able to move it up."
I shook my head. "Checked in with her a little earlier today. She didn't mention anything about the ley line and I didn't want to nag. It's too bad there isn't some unknown magical solstice tonight that would help."
"Or anything that boosted magic powers for that matter."
I gasped and then stopped in my tracks. Boosted magical powers? "I know what we could use."
A couple steps ahead of me, Jake turned, his face etched in concern. "What?"
"The amber stone."
His eyes filled with e
xcitement for oh, about half a second before he started shaking his head. "Not a good idea."
"Would it work?"
He ran his hands through his hair. "Not a good idea, Cas."
"Would it work though?" I turned in a circle racking my brain at the different scenarios. "Why am I even asking you? I know it will work. That's what the amber stone does." I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled through my contacts to find Gigi.
Jake tore the phone from my hand. "I think this is a terrible idea. That stone is powerful."
"Which is exactly why we should use it for this. Jake, they'll be able to perform the healing ritual tonight. Everything will go back to normal in Salem and then we can concentrate on finding my brother. All I see are wins in this scenario. The faster we can concentrate on Damen, the quicker he'll be back here where he should be."
"I think--"
Anger flared inside me. Rightfully, I was the only opinion that mattered right now. I was the acting Ley Line Guardian. "But you know, it doesn't really matter what you think. With Damen gone, I am the only Guardian of Salem and the amber stone is in the possession of Salem's Ley Line Guardians. We're using the damn stone."
I snatched my cell phone back and pushed Gi's name. "Girl, we got a plan. Meet us at Gallows Hill and bring your coven."
Chapter Nine
Jake was quiet as we jogged back to the SUV. He didn't say much in the ride back to my house, and he didn't say anything as he got out of the car. But when a wolf jumped off my front porch and tried to bite my head off, he screamed. Not screamed like a little girl, but bellowed and howled like Mel Gibson in that Scottish war movie.
The wolf's ears flattened against his head right before Jake's massive body took him down. The wolf shifted underneath him, revealing a teenage boy with a nose piercing. Oddly enough, he reminded me of Damen and Jake at that age. They never had nose piercings, though. Not their style.
He was a typical Salem resident. His pack had come from a few states away so that they could live with other magical beings who thought the same as they did. Salem's magical side lived in complete cohesion with the human side. The magical beings certainly had no desire for the humans to know anything about them. They preferred to live in anonymity.